Man United wage bill more expensive than Real Madrid’s as Chelsea, Arsenal and LFC feature in world football’s top 10

According to estimates published by the Daily Mail, Barca spent a whopping £279m on wages during the 2016-17 season – £29m more than La Liga rivals Real Madrid.

Having added Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba to their roster last summer, Manchester United topped the pay-table in England.

The Daily Mail claim that United’s £265m seasonal bill was higher than that of any club in Premier League history.

Fifteen of the top 25 wage bills in world football belonged to teams in England’s Premier League, including five of the top 10.

Chelsea and Manchester City were third and fifth in the world, shelling out £256m and £248m respectively, while Arsenal’s £234m wage bill was the seventh highest on the planet.

Liverpool were ninth on £200m, sandwiched in between German giants Bayern Munich (£225m) and Italian champions Juventus (£181m).

Tottenham Hotspur spent £145m less than Man United, who finished 17 points below them, £128m less than Man City, who were eight behind, £114m less than Arsenal, who were 11 points back, and £80m less than Liverpool, who were 10 below.

Spurs were arguably England’s best value team in 2016-17, but Sunderland were undoubtably the worst.

Sunderland finished bottom of the Premier League and were relegated to the Championship, despite paying £90m in wages – the 22nd largest bill in world football.